Off Duty, Military Health and Fitness - Marine Corps Times

Charity partners make USMC marathon miles matter

So you couldn’t score one of the 30,000 spots at the starting line for the Marine Corps Marathon before registration closed May 23?

You can still get in on the action at “the people’s marathon” this fall, provided you’re willing to do some fund-raising along with your road-running.

Each year, the marathon sets aside about 5,000 race spots for charity partners, who in turn make them available to runners willing to raise money for the charity, according to marathon spokeswoman Beth Johnson. In all, 39 charities have teamed up with the Marine Corps Marathon this year and many are still seeking fund-raising runners for their teams.

Fund-raising minimums typically range from $250 to $1,000, but regardless of which charity you choose, that goal must be met by Aug. 1 to guarantee your race spot in the Oct. 28 race, Johnson said.

Raising that much money in a little over a month may sound intimidating to a runner who is also trying to carve out time from a busy schedule to train for the race. But “for the most part, they are pleasantly surprised to find that it’s not too difficult,” Johnson said.

Many of the charities involved in the 32nd running of the Marine Corps Marathon will hold special meaning for those in military, including the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, and the USO of North Carolina. Most organizations typically have between five and 250 spots available for runners, Johnson said.

Also among the military-related charities is Operation Homefront, a group founded after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that provides assistance to military families, ranging from food and financial aid to emergency care assistance for wounded troops and their families.

The group requested 100 marathon spots and there are plenty of openings still available for motivated runners, according to Regina Galvin, editor in chief for Operation Homefront’s CinCHouse.com Web site. To join the Operation Homefront team, runners must raise $500.

Like other charities involved in the marathon partnership, Operation Homefront makes the fund-raising effort significantly easier by offering runners the opportunity to put together an easy-to-use Web page that allows donors to contribute via electronic payment, Galvin said.

Also offering electronic payment is Fisher House, which had 23 of 199 spots left open as of June 21, according to Team Fisher House officials. Fisher House, which provides housing for military family members so they can be near a hospitalized service member, requires that runners raise $500.

Those who secured their spot in the race by signing up directly with the Marine Corps Marathon can still run for a charity even if the charity’s allocations are already filled, but the Aug. 1 fund-raising goal still applies.

Because each charity coordinates its own marathon fund-raising program, Marine Corps Marathon officials do not know how many spots each charity has left. To learn more about the different charities and find out which ones still have spaces available, see the Marine Corps Marathon site.

• Rob Colenso Jr., Lifelines editor for the Military Times newspapers, is running the Marine Corps Marathon with Team Fisher House. He reached his $500 fund-raising goal in four days. E-mail him at features@atpco.com.

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